I recently came across a website that was promoting green ribbons for the month of May. The website said that May was Mental Health Month. Knowing family and friends who struggle with mental health problems, I became curious and looked into the site further. What I found was a treasure trove of interesting information and also pragmatic help that can aid us in our millennial journey. This post should be considered an addendum to a previous post on the symbolism of the color green and the apron of fig leaves in the Garden of Eden story. The name of the previous post was Please Pass the Fig Leaves. I recommend that you read it if you haven't already or re-read it in light of this new information that I will share.
On the mental health website, the question was asked: Why a green ribbon? The answer according to the text of the website said that in the 1800's the color green was used to brand people who were labeled "insane". Unfortunately, the treatment of mental health issues carries a stigma and I know it is reality for many people. Many of the treatments for mental health problems in the past were barbaric and science is only now starting to come to a clearer understanding of the causes and the treatment of mental illness. I continue to hope for better and better treatments for all mental health problems.
However, I found it interesting that people chose the color green of all colors to label people as "insane". Perhaps there is a lesson here for all of us in our millennial journey. The reference to the 1800's is fascinating since this was the time period that the Nauvoo endowment was generated. Was Joseph Smith and the early saints aware that the color green was used to label people as "insane"?
For most members of the church who look at the Garden of Eden story in an uber-literalist lens, they see the fig leaf apron as an important and necessary step in the journey of Adam and Eve. They also see it as a symbol of chastity. For most members of the church, the Fall was a positive event and Eve is the hero of the story. All of these interpretations have meaning and relevance. What many members of the church don't realize is that a deeper, more individual interpretation is that Eve is symbolic of our bodies and Adam is symbolic of our spirits. Therefore, the symbolism of Eve partaking of the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is symbolic of our body becoming dominant over our spirit. Once this happens we enter an illusory world that is dominated by our body and senses. Our physical eyes are opened at the expense of our spiritual sight. This spiritual blindness is symbolized by the apron of fig leaves that Adam and Eve make. It is interesting to answer the question: Who told thee thou wast naked? Thus, Adam and Eve, once they partake of the fruit, and make the aprons, enter a world filled with shame, guilt, anxiety, and blame. They have truly fallen, and are lost, and they haven't a clue of what is really going on.
The symbolism of the color green has many layers and can be very contradictory. Depending on the culture or circumstance, it can symbolize life or death. It can symbolize sickness or health. As mentioned above, it sounds like people in the 1800's used the color to label individuals "insane". (If any of you readers have a reference to this, I would be most appreciative).
The word insanity is actually a very appropriate word to describe what happens to all of us as a result of the Fall. We know from the D&C that the perfected union of spirit with the body leads to a fullness of joy. However, the opposite of this, which is consistent with the Fall, is anything but joyful. The tension and blame between Adam (Spirit) and Eve (Body) if not rectified will lead to deeper insanity and death. As a result, God, in His mercy, provides a symbolic formula for Adam and Eve to follow so that they can regain their sanity and ultimately have Eternal Life by embracing the Tree of Life after a long and difficult self-imposed journey.
The journey consists of breaking Adam and Eve down and humbling them so that they can see that the way they are perceiving the world is faulty and in error. It will take many lessons for Adam and Eve to realize that they are in error and are surrounded by constant consequences that flow as a result of this error. The danger is that they believe they are seeing clearly right up to the "bitter" end!
Of further interest is contemporary research and treatment of mental health issues. Apparently the "gold standard" of counseling is the use of the evidence-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). In CBT, the therapist will help a client to understand and learn about cognitive thinking errors that appear to be a major culprit in common mental health problems such as Depression and Anxiety. This research backed form of treatment is evidence-based and has been proven to be very effective from what I understand. According to the research it's as effective as medication. When CBT and medication are used together it creates a complimentary and synergistic effect that increases the opportunity for recovery even further.
Apparently, one of the major "cognitive distortions" that CBT works on trying to help clients confront and eliminate is "ALL OR NOTHING THINKING". This type of thinking is described as seeing events, people, circumstances and things as entirely good or entirely bad. There is no in between or grey area. Does this sound familiar dear reader? (COUGH. Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil). Thus, All or Nothing thinking is a central dynamic in mental health problems and for the purposes of this blog it is the central dynamic in spiritual health problems.
Another interesting way to view this topic is through the lens of the anti-mormon. The anti-mormon who also looks at the endowment literally will often mock the temple clothes of faithful members of the church and the ceremony. It is not unheard of for anti-mormons to believe that temple clothing is "crazy". In this sense, anti-mormons may inadvertently be helping us to see that we have lost our minds (spirit) and our senses are now in control. Little do anti-mormons realize that they too have partaken of the fruit (as evidenced by the fact that they see the church as entirely evil or bad) and are as blind as anyone else! Talk about "the blind leading the blind"!!!
The good news in all of this is that God provides a means to become spiritually free. Jesus Christ and the At-One-Ment are the main ingredient in the antidote. The spiritual insanity can be cured and health, wellness, peace and stability can be achieved. Problems will now be seen as opportunities and challenges instead of catastrophes and crisis. The world will fade from a black and white Telestial world into a rainbow of color connected with the millennial world. We will no longer wander in the wilderness. We will enter the promised land.
The mental health web site went on to say that they continue to use the color green in spite of its use in labeling people in the 1800's as "insane". They said that now the green symbolizes "new life, new growth, and new beginnings." May it be so for all of us.
I encourage you to support mental health awareness and the decreasing of the stigma of mental health. I believe we all struggle with mental illness to one degree or another just as we struggle with physical health problems to one degree or another. Universally, we are all struggling with spiritual health problems. Thus the next time you wear green whether it is a ribbon or something else, remember the old meaning and embrace the new meaning.
God bless you in your millennial journey my friends.
I loved the post! Thank you so much! I can't wait for the next one.
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